Celebrities Who Entered Politics

A Republican married to a Kennedy, action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger was dubbed a rising political star more than a decade before he first ran for office. That opportunity came with the recall of California Gov. Gray Davis in 2003. Schwarzenegger was just one of many celebrities who threw a hat into the ring (his opponents included porn star Mary Carey, Diff'rent Strokes star Gary Coleman, and political pundit Arianna Huffington), but voters took the bodybuilder-turned-actor seriously and elected him to two terms as Governator (2003-11). He's since returned to acting, but as with most politicians and unstoppable cyborgs, there's always a chance that he'll be back.